The consumption of honey is well established all over the world as a healthy and very nutritional energy source. Honeys come in various forms based on floral source, area of collection, moisture and the honey's ability to crystallize. They differ in color, moisture, pollen content and also its ability to crystallize at different stages after collection. Honey is susceptible to crystallization which occurs naturally, a process in which the glucose molecules form crystals with some of the water molecules. Crystallization is affected by three major factors. One is the floral origin of the nectar. Generally, honeys with a high glucose/fructose ratio, will crystallize more rapidly than honeys with a relatively low glucose/fructose ratio. Crystallization can also be triggered by small air bubbles suspended in the product by handling and pumping practices. Honeys may crystallize in just a few days or over a period of weeks and months.
Honey is also susceptible to hydroxy-methyl-furfural (HMF) buildup which is formed during the thermal decomposition of sugars and carbohydrates. HMF has been identified in a wide variety of heat processed foods including milk, fruit juices, and spirits, and it occurs naturally in honey over time or more quickly in honey that has been exposed to heat or honey which occurs in climates that speed up this process.
New honey contains 1 to 5 mg/kg HMF. In many parts of Europe, it is forbidden to sell honey with more than 40 mg/kg HMF. When honey is being stored at 20° C. the HMF content will raise +/−1 mg/kg per month. Only the fructose component will become HMF. So the rise is also dependent on the kind of honey!
Heating the honey will raise HMF levels rapidly. The longer and/or hotter it is heated, the higher the HMF will become. This temperature dependence is shown in the following table.
Table of the time to produce 30 ppm HMFTemperature in ° C.Temperature in ° F.Time in days30 86150–20040104 20–5050122 4.5–960140 1–2.570158 5–14 hours
These characteristics above and considering honey's sticky characteristics make it very difficult to move or transport it and then to receive it into commercial facilities for processing. Transportation and processing are therefore very labor-intensive and costly. Many countries are shipping large amounts of honey product all over the world. Traditionally, honey product has been moved in 55 gallon drums requiring substantial labor and extra costs due to the handling of the drums and heating them to remove the product. The current system with drums is very inefficient and expensive when considering that every shipping container contains one metric ton of metal contained in the drums, and this adds substantially to freight charges.
Draining the honey from containers presents its own set of problems. Honey has very different viscosities depending on floral source and time and temperature and is prone to crystallize thereby becoming even more difficult to work with and remove. Honey which has crystallized can become solid and is very difficult to remove from the container by gravity or pumping. Heating the product for longer periods of time is required and this can cause HMF levels to rise and ruin some of the quality and value of a particular honey product.
Honey is a very delicate product and under normal pumping practices air is introduced or is agitated into the product through cavitation in the pump or violent discharge into holding tanks. All of these methods produce tiny air bubbles that are suspended in the honey and can help form crystallization that is not desired.
These factors together have discouraged those in the honey business from attempting bulk or intermediate-bulk shipment methods, for example, shipping honey in containers of 1-24 metric tons, or utilizing containers carrying an internal collapsible container since the clinging of the product would cause the loss of a large amount of product which cannot be removed when the internal container collapses.
A procedure to ship honey in a collapsible container which prevents the collapsible container from collapsing on itself would reduce waste and make bulk shipments more feasible.
A procedure which permits the honey to be removed from the container with minimal heat input would avoid HMF buildup and possible product loss in that manner.
A procedure to remove the product quickly and easily and not create pumping agitation that has been known to cause seeding of air bubbles and inducing crystallization much more rapidly would preserve product quality, and would therefore be desirable.
A procedure for bulk shipping honey product would avoid the expenses of the concomitant shipment of large amounts of weight in the form of drums and the labor costs for manhandling the drums, and would therefore be desirable.